Back in Indy and on the Mat!!!

We are so happy to be back home! And Chris welcomed us back with a GREAT CLASS this morning. A sweat fest, which I have missed with the weather being not hot enough to really "get my sweat on". But today was a dripper, and I look forward to many more.

One thing I am dealing with that I am not too happy about is a bum shoulder. I think I have a problem with my rotator cuff. I need to find a sports doc, and Ginger might have one for me. If anybody else has suggestions, I would welcome them.

But pain or no, I am gonna keep working, get the problem dealt with, and then get right back to the work......and I WILL be careful not to injure myself further!

So nice to see all the folks at yoga today, and come to the WOODRUFF flea market this weekend!

xoxo,

Rob

Hikin' the Canyon with Jen

Just a quick note to all our fellow Yogi's to let you know that Jen and I successfully hiked the Grand Canyon yesterday......from Rim to River to Rim in a day!

It was my fourth time doing that, and Jen's first. I am so proud of her fortitude in doing this....

It took just under 10 hours. And we had one good scare in the desert section before getting to the river, but we got through.

Today we have sore calves, and a feeling of calm fatigue and happiness, and that is about it.

We are going to spend the rest of today tooling around a rainy Flagstaff AZ where we are staying for a few more days. I love this town.

Our scare was a result of not being sure we had enough water to get us through the desert-like section of the canyon, coupled with fatigue setting in and not being sure exactly how much farther we had to go until the bottom. The trick is this: when you reach the colorado river, you can only use that as a water source if you have purification tablets with you..... I WILL ALWAYS HAVE THESE FROM NOW ON WHEN I HIKE THE CANYON!

We would have had to hike along the river for two miles before coming to the next drinking water. Rather than do that and risking too much fatigue ( we still had to hike up the canyon!) we opted to go down to the river, rest, split an apple and a gel-energy pack, have a little water and then hike three miles up to the nearest water station going back up the canyon. Once we got there, I knew we would be fine, no matter how long we took to hike out. There's more water the further up you go.

Weather wise, we were lucky, the top of the canyon was a mile 60 degrees, and the bottom only got near 90, which is not bad. I have been there when it went over 100. And it was overcast. If we had had a hot day, we might have been in some trouble.

But that "trouble" is one reason I love the canyon. At least once each time down, you recognize your mortality in relation to the life span of the earth and everything that created the earth. you hike into this amazing chasm, and it looks like a snapshot of an avalanche that someone has frozen just long enough for you to sneak into and get out of. you see huge boulders that are so close to tumbling down on you, but the are frozen because our life span is only a blip in the life span of the Canyon. you see how short our lifetime is in relation to our world.

And when you are in the depths of the desert, the reality is: you see that your death in the desert won't be a big deal in the eyes of the Earth.

But we didn't die! We got out, exhausted and happy. We returned to our normal understanding of life, but with a new appreciation of the Earth's time. But we didn't get too profound....we went and ate pizza at the most awesome place in Flagstaff!

More later......but for now....I'm still spent!

Love to all,

Rob

Reunited with my Wife!!!

Here I sit typing away in Dayton, Ohio.....Jen and I in the same room! she is back from her NY gig and we can now have our lives together for the forseeable future. We know we have our next two gigs together, which we are very thankful for.

My training is going well. My running feels very strong as I have had the chance to hit some hills in Dayton. I ran a mini ten days ago that was by far my best time (85:11) but I need to get a pedometer and check the accuracy of the course. It was listed as a 1.2 mile track and I think it is short of that.....but nevertheless I felt great!

I am coming back to Indy for Saturdays' yoga class. It will mean driving home Friday night late, and leaving right after class Saturday to get back for two shows the next day, but SCREW IT.....IT'S BEEN TOO LONG!!!!!

Back in Indy for a Day....

Had a chance to come into Indy Sunday night and stay all day Monday. What a treat. Back to Dayton tuesday morning but I wanted to do a quick blog shout-out while I had my own computer....

I did what Chris has termed the "Godzilla" workout today. What I have done is combined four supersets from past workouts to make an hour-long workout that is as aerobic as it is strength-building. I am woozy as I write this.

I have been feeling a bit blue lately. I think I am doing good work on stage, but I miss Jen very much and miss my friends. But I am meeting wonderful folks with this project. It's just been four weeks away from Jen, and three away from home. That's enough!

I weighed myself for the first time in weeks and was worried that I would be heavy. I was right where I was in the midst of the first time I did the Project, which made me smile. I think I have a little fat that I could shake, but no reason to shame myself.......THERE IS NEVER A GOOD REASON FOR SHAME!!!!!!!

I am training now for the big hike coming up for me and Jen in three or so weeks. We are going to see if we can hike the Grand Canyon rim to river to rim in a day. I have done it three times in my life and want to do it again.

I was hoping we could break it up and camp down in the Canyon, but I couldn't get a reservation.....so we're gonna go hard-core!! At least I had the good sense to book us a room in Flagstaff that night that has a small hot tub in the bathroom!

Miss you guys....

Love,

Rob

A Wonderful Run Down Memory Lane

Hi All,

First off, thanks to everybody who was so supportive of me and Alison yesterday for each of our race endevours. I case you didn't hear, Alison cranked out a great run, too! Doing 9 miles in way under a 10 minute pace. (Hope I got those facts right, Alison!)

I was happy with my run. My hip was sore, but I really didn't feel it on the run. And perhaps I could have pushed my pace more, but I really didn't want to. I just wanted to try to enjoy the run...which took me past so many old college memories.

My ego took a bit of a bruise when I checked the results and found that I was a little slower than I had thought, but not by much. It took a BIGGER bruise when I saw that a theatre friend of mine who is ten years my senior outran me by a minute!! But the other side of it is: that shows me that I can still be running this well in ten years......and perhaps even better!

So now I am going to rest my legs from running for a week. I am going to find a good machine to sweat on while I am in Dayton, Ohio. I leave as soon as I finish packing and finish this blog......I am apprehensive to go so I am stalling........anyway.

Good luck on the last week, project folk......it's a RECOVERY WEEK!! Way to get through all the workouts. Think about the ones that you got the biggest bang out of so you can keep them in your arsenal!!!

Love,

Rob

Am I creating DRAMA here?????

So I went to bed feeling a little "tweak" in my right hip. And woke up with it. I did the last project weight workout (but one I LOVE so it's staying in my aresenal on a regular basis!) and that helped my hip loosen up. But it still feels really sore and TIGHT.

So, tonight as I pack for my Ohio gig and the race tomorrow, I will do lots of the great stretches we have all learned on the mat. Anything I can think of to help. And a little time on the inversion table.

And maybe this is going to cause me to honestly enjoy running at an easier pace tomorrow. I just want to be able to run it all......

We'll see!

Trimmed lots of time off my super-sets today. I love the mountain climber/push to thrust/push ups speed round. I love sweating like it's aerobics when you are "lifting". It's a keeper in my life. Thanks, Chris.......

Peace and lots of love,

Rob

The race hasn't started, but I can smell the barn!

Quick note.....longer one to come.

I will complete my last (scheduled) Project weight workout tomorrow. Although I think I will keep up with them after this week because I really love them.

Then Saturday I run the Bloomington Half-Marathon.

Sunday is a friggin' day off, and a travel day as I head to Ohio to start my next show. That will be the first day off from workouts that I have taken in ten days.

My hope is to run a strong race on Saturday, but not try to break any record. Under 100 minutes would be great. My honest goal has been to see myself through a pretty hard week of workouts, culmintaing in the race. Normally you rest for days before a race, but I always like to see how the project has helped my endurance and ability to recover quickly. So that is the test of this whole nine days.

I'll let you all know how it goes!

And I KNOW I won't sleep tomorrow night. I don't sleep well the night before a race. So I will sleep in tomorrow (sorry to all with kids....I am still able to sleep in sometimes) and then take naps whenever I feel I want to tomorrow. And then "rest" tomorrow night, leave the house at 5:45 and head to Bloomington........send me good thoughts!

Peace,

Rob